Underseal cutter



MalCh 2, 1954 L *HARDER 2,670,536

UNDEIRSEAL CUTTER v Filed Sept. 12, 1951 FIG. 4

I N VEN TOR.

LEBLYAND L. HARDER WWW AGENT Patented Mar. 2, 1954 UNITED Stmas ,T cruce '.Eliis invention relatesr to tools and. has special reference to a-- devicey for' clearing sol-calledundersea from' bolt heads and the like.

My invention has particular utility inv the repair of' automobiley bodice. and: the like. lnnorthernz partsv oif the country,A particularly, it is often necessary touse certain chemicals on roads and; streets to meltl ice; accumulations and these chemicals usually' have; an-v adverse. eating action on the metal parts of the auto'body, particularly the under side4 thereof.A It has become commonpracticeto coat the under-surface of anautofbOdy'With a heavy layerV of a. somewhat plastic compound called underseal- This underseal. coating materially' reduces` the possibility of the vehicle body and frame becoming rusted: or. otherwise.i eaten away" by chemicals or weathering action during the life of the vehicle".`

Of course, all boltheads and. nuts are also coated with the underseal and when it is nec essary to service the vehicle, such as for body repairs, the bolts and nutsv are particularly difucult to. remove' as` it is` diicult to'- seat a wrench adequately torpermit loosening' the nut or bolt. Mechanics usually heat ay screwdriver, or similar tool, try toscrapethe'underseall away from'J the nuts or bolts to be removed. This is a very costly and time-consuming proceeding which is annoying to the mechanic, to say the least.

It is, therefore, one of my principal objects to provide a means for removing underseal, or the like, from nuts and bolts to permit the firm engagement of a wrench, or similar tool, thereon for removal thereof in a most convenient manner.

Another object is to provide such a device which is simple in structure, yet eicient in operation.

Another object is to provide a tool head which may form a part of a set of so-called socket wrenches whereby the socket wrench operating handle may be used to operate the underseal cutter or remover, and storage of the tool head will not be a problem, as it may be kept with a mechanics socket wrench set.

Another, more specic, object is to provide an underseal cutter which creates a circular channel around the head of the bolt or nut to be removed and also cleans the underseal from the iiat, angularly disposed faces of the nuts and/or bolts to permit adequate seating of a Wrench, such as a socket wrench, on the nut or bolt head.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds.

" Figure 2.

Figurel 4- is a rearedgeview of oneoithecutter blades.

f AFiguie is an elevationalfview cli-Figure 4;

Y Figure 6 is an: enlargedfsectienat view on; the lii'ie @-v-S Figure'. 5'.-

ln the drawing, the reference numeral I? indie cates theY body mer'nb'er` of'my under-seal cutter; which may com-prise; a cylindrical bl'ocllrfofV metal as shown, or some other form suitable for the purpose;

The body member Il' could be providedf witha suitable handle; not'l shown; however; II pref-er to provideanA opening or socket 2"l substarmi'allyx aide ally of the body member, the socketbeing-of' suiteableO size and or' rectangular" shape as shown, whereby a conventional socket drive handle-may be operatively connected to the body member by inserting the rectangular drive member in the socket 2 so that my cutter can be operated in the manner of conventional socket wrenches.

I have provided a plurality of blades 3 which are secured to the body member in any desired manner to be rotated with the body member by the operating or drive handle. The blades preferably extend from the body member with their axes in substantially parallel relation to each other and to the axis of rotation of the body and are spaced substantially equi-distant apart on the periphery of the body member, as shown. I have found that three blades are adequate for most practical working conditions.

The blades 3 are elongated and of equal length, as shown, and are made of spring steel. The blades are provided adjacent their outer ends with cutters which comprise a bottom edge 5 which is upwardly inclined from the forward or leading edge 6 toward its rear or trailing edge 1. As shown in the drawings, the blades are somewhat of V-shape, having a bend 8 transversely thereof in slightly spaced relation to the bottom edge 5, the bend being in a plane substantially normal to the axis of rotation of the cutter device. The said V-shape permits the blades to center themselves on the nut or bolt head Q and grip same rmly because the blades are ofV spring steel and are so constructed and arranged that they must be sprung outwardly in order to straddle the nut.

This feature insures that the wrench engaging corners 9 and faces I0 are cleaned substantially entirely of underseal l I, as will become apparent.

In operation, with a suitable handle in place on the body member, the blades 3--3 are placed against the nut or bolt head and pressure is applied thereto against the nut or bolt head while the body member is rotated. It takes very little skill or practice to gauge what pressure is most desirable against the blades to force them to spread and encircle the nut or bolt head and to force them through the underseal Il at the desired speed to do the most desirable cleaning of the nut or bolt head. The blades rotate in jerks, so to speak, as it takes more effort to rotate the blades from a point where they engage the ilat faces I of the nut or bolt head around the corners 9 thereof, as the blades must be spread apart against their spring tension in order to round the corners; however, each portion of the nut or bolt head is engaged and cleaned by the blades.

The blades 3 are preferably mounted or provided with a slight twist, as shown at (2, whereby the trailing edge 'l of the cutters do not run in the same peripheral plane as the leading edge 6, but are dared outwardly to run in a separate, wider plane whereby a relatively wide channel is provided in the underseal around the bolt head or nut, as shown in Figure 2, making it a simple matter to engage a common socket wrench over the nut or bolt head to remove same.

, It is to be understood that I have herein shown and described one speciilc embodiment of my invention, and that my appended claims are not necessarily limited specifically thereto, but should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A device for removing substances such as underseal from around nuts and the like comprising: a cylindrical body member, a socket in one end of said body member and substantially axially alined with same to receive a handle for rotating said body member, at least three elongated blades xed to said body member in substantially equally spaced relation to each other around the periphery of said body member, said blades extending from said body member with their axes in substantially parallel relation to each other and to the axis of rotation of said body member, and cutters on the outer ends of said blades for engagement around said nuts to remove said underseal from around said nuts as said body member and blades are rotated axially, said blades being of spring metal and being adapted to be forced apart to firmly engage said nuts at all times while being rotated therearound to clean said nuts of underseal as said cutters enter said underseal, said cutters comprising a bottom edge which is upwardly inclined from the leading to the trailing edge thereof to permit said leading edge to enter and lead into said underseal, and said trailing edge being ared outwardly farther than said leading edge of the cutter so as to travel in a greater peripheral path than said leading edge whereby a relatively wide channel is cleared around said nuts to receive a nut removing tool.

2. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and said cutters having a transversely disposed V-shaped bend therein with the apex of said V-shape inwardly disposed to engage said nuts and to permit the ready application of said blades over and around said nuts.

LELAND L. HARDER.

References Cited in the le 0f this patent Russell Apr. 22, 1952 

